The Bank Street Canal Bridge carries Bank Street along a roughly north – south direction over the Rideau Canal, linking The Glebe to Old Ottawa South. It also passes over Queen Elizabeth and Colonel By drives, each of which extends along one side of the canal.

An 1827 map of the vicinity around the still-new settlement of Bytown shows the residence of Lewis Williams on this site, across the Rideau River from the house of Braddish Billings. The map is on display at the Billings Estate Museum. On this basis, it is believed that the original portion of this frame structure dates from 1827, placing it among the oldest frame buildings in Ottawa. Williams and his family were among the first settlers of the region, arriving in 1817.

Two congregations in Ottawa South, the Methodist and Presbyterian, united to build Southminster United Church in 1931 on the site of the former Methodist Church, which had been built in 1909 but torn down to make way for the new building.